Hello, I am once again headed to my family's place on Lake of the Woods in
Ontario Canada - EN39. I will be going some time towards the end of June or in
July. At this point I dont know any more details - what dates exacty. I should
be running 50, 144, and 432.
Douring last years trip I encountered problems raising my antennas and was
only able to operate on 50 with a screwdriver. I was trying to raise the whole
mast/rotor/antenna array from a horizontal position to vertical with the use of
a pully system. However, keeping the base of the mast stationary and pulling up
all that weight (even with the mechanical advantage of the pulleys - 3 wheels
on each one) prooved to be MUCH more difficult standing on granite rock 5 feet
above the water!!
I am still working on this year's setup. My plan is to erect the lower
support mast and the upper rotor assembly/mast/antennas at the same time on the
ground. The rotor and antennas will be mounted to a PVC tram that will slide up
and down the support mast with the use of the same pullys as last year. This
way, the load is strait up and down rather than trying to tilt up the whole
assembly. The PVC tram will lock into rotational position using pins in the top
section of the mast. This way, the position of the antennas wont change with
the wind. I plan on just tying down the pully line to something (like a cleat
on a flagpole) to keep the antennas from comming down. Once the tram with the
antennas and rotor is up then the whole thing can be guyed down. In fact, I
might just attach the guy lines to the tram. For a portable setup it should
work OK. As it is I am making this pretty complicated!
As of right now I am not quite sure how to erect the main support mast. I
cant guy it, otherwise the antennas will not be able to pass up and down the
mast. Right now I am planning on making a tripod type thing for the base of
the mast. The other option would be to strap downt he mast to the deck. This
might be the best way to go because of the top heavy rotor and antennas might
knock over a tripod (even just in the time it takes to raise the antennas). Ill
work on the setup in the next couple weeks and see what I come up with.
Steve, KC8QVO
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